The Deprived and Depraved Acknowledgements LeMar Antheny DeBooth, Kelly Marie, Booker T Edwards,jr.(RLP). Norma L. ‘Detooth, Celestria LeMar (KL). Jenna Jones and Rachel Johnsen, Kelly Marie, Jonika Lynn Jackson, Aust Joan Crawl Jimmy Mignelito Smith, Uncle Sonny. Aunt Diane Smith, my cousins Rasheeda. Sophia, Cletus Rivera and Tito Sanchez, Bubba, Diamond, Donte, Rakkei Burley, Rockmond, Aunt Gloria Lynn, Grancma anley, Aunt Antoirette, Uncle Buddy (RLF) who remains a role model to me to this day and Aunt Georgine (BLP), Geandpops DeReath and Féwards (RLP), BAD-1, Nicole Thomas (RIP), Larry Gross (AKA PEP), Brian Roberts aka Lil Smee {who grew up with in juvenile placement, REP). the DeBocths. the ‘Edwards, the Smiths in Keading, Pennsylvania, Matthew Muctowsti, Randy amarok, Haley. and Keavey from IWW GHQ in Chicago Jimi DelDugan, Anthony Rayson and Mike at S. Chicago Anarchist Black Cross Zine Distro. Lorenzo Korboa Ervin and Sista. joNina Ervin, Frota Fodal., Ras Munyiga, Sherrelle Diggs, ‘Tristan Tristan, Jef and the entire lack Autonomy Federation, Te Ida B. Wells Coalition, Sean Swain, Coyote Sheff, Christopher M. Gonzalez. Victor “Trayway.* “Mumia Abu-Jamal (I'm running with everything we poiticked on while in the library and the departing leter you lft me at Mahanoy. Erotha; Preston Kelly (ska PK) - youve a real good Brotha P. Keith Brown-El, Cherry, Carl Greer, Brianns Peril an Joe Hillbilly Lily E. Vay, Sam Anderson from the Ashland & Division Pawn Shop near the El. E-Well. Papo, Dollface. Big (and Li). Evelyn. Maggie. and the whole Logan Square, Belmont-Craigin and Englewood neighborhoods in Chicago, Ms. Joyce and the Shermar Fark Library, Antwon and the Brothas on the Throop and Elisabeth sides and thote who support what we'e doing throughou: the Woods Si Prise (my friend) K Bunny and the Asylum Collective. he (row boarded-up) lowercase collective 'rades, Fancy & Ezra, ‘Mercedez Lowercase. onte, Lumneah, Kose, Mike Lucas, Philip Ruz and the centive Incarcerated Workers! Organizer's Committee, ale Ahrens Joyce J Hoo Pamela Holmes, Dave and Amy Verdin who feed the people in Logan Square ~ thanks for the good coffee and writing space; T-BW., Ms. Payllis (RIP), Eager: Moniey. Chrisand Lewis from Chicago ABC. Lena Lenin. Elis, George from the ‘Town, Miya G. DeBaker, Subway ane Kon from Locked-Out, Goodie, Twin ‘ral Hantingson and Ta-kay who 1 man, Ski, Big Mo, Mike D. ‘Thought. Moyo. Tokay fram the eon: used to have circle-a meetings with in Chester ‘Tommy. oot, Ant, Loco. Tammy and Theresa, Flee, Chi and the whole AP crew * sreet soldiers i: Allentown, FA. and all who I may have let out in the amit of geting this ou and INTRODUCTION = Behold, dear readers! You've gotten your hands on an important, serious, explosively written, passionate-assed zine! I first got with Hybachi Lemar in 2006 or 50. He was like many incarcerated young Brothers - desperate and angry and brilliant!* He was looking for some real answers, while his body pulsated with detestation for the system that so suppresses his people, my people - every, single person! I immediately recognized his powerful writing ability and his youthful urgency to get on with the struggle. I did what I always do for the Brothers & Sisters who write me. Isent him some zines from my distro, in hopes that he would actually receive them. For, the closer you get to the truth, the more dangerous life becomes. But, you're also more prepared to face the endless dangers much more effectively. I wrote him a letter and we quickly struck up a comradely relationshi| He comes straight from the Black ghetto hell that America has created for herself. He called himself an anarchist! And, he was ready to voice the common cry of yearning, desire and articulated revolution. So, here is a remarkable compilation of his work. His first zine, When All Fise Feels Lost, anarchist writings, 2008 came in my mailbox, basically all ready to go. 1 didn't have to do much at all to it, to get it ready for printing up and sending in, It was a real “breath of fresh air” for me to see and read this. Hmmm, I thought... people are starting to get with it. Anarchism is global and does offer the best chance at a real and free life, for everybody, especially the most oppressed, vilified and demonized - the still enslaved, Afrikan prisoner, right here in the belly of the fucking beast! Lemar (his two names are interchangeable) gets it about solidarity, while speaking and acting from his own sense of mission. He works the streets and he works pen and paper. His writing style is a real treat! He's very blunt and to the point, with a lot of references to back up his arguments. But, he also riffs off with these sort of window pane journeys of revelatory hallucinations. I like to call it “the literature of revolt!” A spectre's haunting Amerika - 1,2 many Lemars!! ~ @nthony of South Chicago ABC Zine Distro ~ Table of Contents Autobiographical Sketch Anarchitudes Preface CHAPTER 1: When All Else Feels Lost (CHAPTER 2: RESIST RERELI DEFY Anonymous in an Anonymous Crowd ‘An Understanding of Social Forces Of Sedition, the Vices of Established Morality and the Inclination Toward Universal Rebellion Resist Imperialism A World of Slums: Rreeding Ground for a Generation of AntiImperialist and Anti-Authoritarian Rebels .- Frisans as Breeding Grounds for Anti-Imperialist and Anti-Authoritarian Rebels The Hood as Breeding Ground for Anti-Imperilist and Anti Authoritarian Rebels Social Takeover! From the Iron Grip of the Government into the Rightful Hands of the People (CHAPTER S: DISPOSABLE OUTCAST 1000 to 6 An Analysis on Social Inequality and Anarchism as a Revolurionary Science for Poor Peoples’ Liberation From Gang War to Class War: The Acquistion of and Redirecting of Community Firepower COINTELPRO: Gang Warfare isa Government Plo: On the Autonomous (Liberated) Zone and Labor Union Alliance No More Patriotic Nationalism: WE WANT WORLD-WIDE INTERCOMMUNAL (Community-United) LIBERATION! ‘The Three Pillars of Government Power Bright Faure : (Youre Nor Alone) Chapter 4: SOUL POWER: A Revolutionary Relationship With the Universe A Nate on the Following Text . The Principle of Mentalism «-- The Principle of Correspondence The Principle of Vibration +The Principle of Polarity ‘The Principle of Rhythm .. The Principle of Cause and Effect ‘The Principle of Gender On the Relationship That One Has With One'sSelf Ghapter 5: Anarchism and Black Autonomy Articles of Resistance Autobiographical Sketch Denning this. I find itsomewhat interesting, however, that my hunger for something 0 fill my stomach ight now pales in comparison to my appetite for insilling a relevant ‘Purpose into the minés ané heats of thoze outceated from the world ofthe privileyed, tnd amission tc the marginalized. This purpose... this mission, is Revolution, nd i's ine that's being borne out of sheer necessiy! { wasbom amidst thunder and lighting on Thursday, uly 74, 1977 in Reading Pennsylvania, an industrial city of about 80,000 1 was the only child. and spenta lot af hour by my adio and tking to myselfin my room or whatever place | coud find that could cover me fom the embarassment af not nding a way tir in (litt fee ke I ft in anywere in the sociable world) My mother ("Nimmy”) worked in a factory as x seamstress & single pares who ctroggled throughout my formative years 10 make ends meet. Ineverdared tcl her these dark secrets about me or hew dejected {felt around my grade school peers oat offer of being rejected by her, and being looked at as someone who'd she rather hae aberted a bin. We bounced from homeless sheters 19 soup kitchens and for sometime lived ina 2uilding on Spring Garden Stret that leaned half-way and forward teward the sidewalk, with ro ruming water or phmbing. Liquor & drugs were as commonplace as therats & the oackes I'd fling ofthe ktcher table Amid the abject poverty, however, she'd esl n me concepts like “sharp peel meant a sharp mind: and, "Never hia woman she'll abv remember ie sith 0 ‘ook inher eyes to make sure that I understood. A victim of physical abuse, here, ‘he grew up menaced bythe Ku Klus Kaa in Temple, Ps wes bewen Uy failed father figures in font of m= unt when I was tea years of age, she was sh inthe eck with «410 gaye shotgun in our ktchen on Schuykill Avenue, resulting in her becoming a recovering quadriplegic. My love for her remains unconcitiona My father, Booker T. Edwards J. (“Boo Boo”) was a member of a local Biack Panther (Chapler in Reading, PA and had met my mother while he was serving the community. He and my mother parted when | was three so I don’t know too muck more aba is He passed away wher. | was 14 or 15 years old. From the age of welve I grew up preity mach on my own, bourcing from one vende facility and one city to another. Like many of hase fom my surrounding, | grew up ia a whirlwind of violence: of sobbing peaple, ang banging ard seling crugs inthe housing praects. Early on, however, I could’t hep bu fel strongly lected by a conglomeration of versonal character defects hat I felt intensely about ridding mytelf of The only true suide ultimately had, was Experience, itself. Theat myself up over every fea that | ad unit ventured t conquer them enc by one. By the tine Iwas an erly teen, 1d already been shot at and stbbed. | began challenging every authority | once feared tnd began robbing penple who were wice my se. Unbelaownst o others around ne, [stl felt myself inexpicably suring in my relusive caccoon of manic ‘epresion behind clesed doors. painfully suggled witha sel-hatred and woald coffhandedly question the reason for my existence There'd besimes white P'f wonder if there were anyone es i the wold ikem, ‘who elt abandoned into sich a wormhole of alentn, Ina cri” of income melancholy, were he doors ofthe mpl of reaonslans loved atthe approaching Stepsof Depression & I'd return the nite, high off a lot of reefer and would fall onto my mattress ith at soe nd ont sil n,n det sleep wh whnever dr money T' made throush dhe dy (wich wasn't much with my onde 12 page beside me. Throughout the fw monte spent able High School, Md eary my 357 Dacha wih me and would spend many an hour day dreaming cu the window during clas, wonders, ‘rte night be ike for dn normnls™ who eda" chavetw gro up broken Nome juvenile facies and as a hve-rol wth a growling somach, ‘a egagen namercs ings and lecting romances, when {nas alone, FOweNe, was acter” who" dsli-y ar and my writ This became avery personal hibit which stared manly afer being set to prison for 3-15 years llowing my shoting of. sanger ona neighboshooc bride walk-way: abridge which merely weeke befor, Pdasked mye If ier wold Jal decade son severe atha woul it even mati, any Ant-setl& diel “oom of fe are by a ocal pape, cea deserve my Cxisteee no words woud moat ke have ben ode teas” Meanwhile, more peaple in my “hood were geting shot up and locked down, I began considering deeply the newspaper clippings I'd read of people | grew up with ether being killed on the street or being sentenced to life in prion for homicides, shootings ‘or drug offenses. Sometime in 2003, 1 was transerrel to prison within the priv for cell fight and for allegedly assaulting the prison guard in the way of the fight at ‘which time I spent 22 months in solitary confinement in the eupermax facility et SCI GREENE, in Pennsylvania. Upon my arrival in long;term isolation, | observed brutality atthe hands of prison guards, the wamyering (ain depriving) of fod and mil reduc human beings around me into catatonics and manises succumbing to smearing feces on their cell walls and doors; many of these prisoners left with decades left 10 serve in these sub-human conditions. It was during this period when | was introduced to radical papers. Neighboring prisoners and | would carefully pull the string from our towels, enough to reach practically every cell on the unit. We'd then poke a small hole through one of| the erds ofa state-issued envelope tc tie aloop in it, and slide our stringed-envslones under our cell doors end “connect lines,” passing everything that could fitunder our {doors from handwritten messages to newspapers & pamphlets. | initially had taken interest im a Maoist paper (MIM Notes), and began learning new words ad ideas and ‘would beam with enthusiasm every time my eyes would cone across the word Revolution in all the Communist writings I'd read, only to find myself with a sense of feeling uniberaced ard inthe end. One ¢ay, fellow prisoner “fished” a prisoner resource list under my cell door containing contact information of pen pal services & organizations providing fice literature to prisoners At first, lonly responded toa pen pal agency. I ached tn share some kind of mental appert with someone from the outside werld. I was approachirg, ‘my second year n solitary confinement, and began wondering ifthe outside world still existed, or if another Bin Laden attack ovcarred again. This may soued strange to ‘many, but ndefaite stretches of isolation miles away from the nearest civilian ‘population — “out in the sticks” makes knowledge a prisoner's most coveted of possessions, next to « knowledge of Self. There were many meals When prison guards ‘wouldn't feed us, and when one of us wouldn't be fed, we'd all kick our cell deors in Jefiance. Many times we'd hear prisoners defiantly Kicking their metal slabs on adjacent cell blocks inthe hole, aswell (many times we'd join in kicking our doors in solidarity with them; not realizing at the time that what we were doing was utilizing the solidarity tactic of what many activists inthe sreets would aptly identify as a Noise Demowstation, « Noise Demo. Iwas in tis environment where I wre «© one ‘ofthe oterbstings; it was the pivotal moment that changed the course and tistoy of amy life, 7 [frst acknowledged myself as an anarchist in 2007 after recsiving literature from ‘Anthony Rayson cf South Chicago Anarchist Black Cross Zine Distr. He acquainted ‘me withthe writings of Lorexzo Kom'boa Ervin, Emma Goldman, Sean Swain, and his own remarkable literature, including hand-written correspondence. Before | fommally became introduced to anarchism, I (quit frankly & ignorantly) thought it ‘was about “white people and eraziness;" so naturally, when | discovered what i really ‘cans, and how relevant it i to my life in my opinion — it was only natura thal ‘ound it wortay of my attention asan underprivileged, oppressed and imprisoned Person of cob. I intimately “clicked” with me ina profound & personal way. It strengthened me early on with the understanding that In fact, was not alone; that I’m actually part ofa culture of Class Struggle against domination, which is wordwide! ‘The firs two times I made parole, the only work I could find were factory jobs ‘hough Temporary Employment agencies (Temp. servizes). ln the Winer P'd catch frostbite ot work, and inthe Summer, I'd come home me and my ex-wife’ apartment exhausted, humiliated and broke afler paying the Temp Agency, Parole ‘Supervision Fees, and reo. Td pained Marxist Tom Big Warrior's home for extra money while he'd teach me Dialectical Materialism, We'd dialogue deep into the night debating ideas and we remain good friends to this day. ‘Returning fram my factory jeb each work day, eyes red from exhaustion, I'd descend into my cellar where I oper and refleet on Mr. Ervin’s writings, not having the slightest idea that we'd end up not only meeting and protesting beaind the barricades in person merely a few years into the future! ‘The tind time I made parole, in 2010, Lescaped fiom abalfvay house in Pennsylvania and went staudestinely to Chicago where I Joined the Industriel Workers of he World and co-founded the Urban Squatters" Committee- Chicago Chapter {et the quick-wited, phenomenal bread and butter anarchist Anthony Rayzon, who ‘niually mntroduces me wo Anarchist thought and we became hands-in-the-mud comrades inthe Resistance together from the door. Anthony would help me with train fare and fed me from his home office where I'd asist ia replying lo prisoners” mail, forwarding them zines & publications, He introduced me to the ore of the most illuminating surrealists the world may ever meet, Gale Ahress, wlo's introduction in Lusy Parson's Freedow, Equality, Solidarity is nothing shert of attenion-gr bling! also had the pleasure of meeting Keith Me Henry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, and became sctivein the Ovcupy Movement, I'd eur to the building | “squatiec” (the lowercase collectvs) from an another collective around the corner, carrying, Ironically, a copy of Kropotkin’s The Conquest of Breed in one hand, and a bag of Food Not Bombs’ bread inthe other! ‘The majority of my reading was done in prisons, Chicago alleys and abandoned bulldings —tckeovers. (On Chicago's South Side, Id regularly fulfill book requests with the Midwest Books {for Prisoners Collective and corresponded with imprisoned anarchists such as Coyote Sheff and Victor Trayway, from soup kitchens, under my assumed alias Meanwhile, the pigs on the Eas Coast wee tying to huntme down, Stat Police stormed my mama's house with arms, and the parole office used propaganda to insinuate eoneous & fictitious informaticn about me. By the way, people who house FREEDOM as an outlaw instead of prison: remember the many and vicous & dirty tactics they use. What doesn’t break you down can only make you stronger once the spirit of liberation alive ard wakened within yeu; and such counter-ntlligence tactics only strengthened my irreconcilable resolve (in living to fightit) waile sdvocating to expedit its imperding destruction. Bi-monthly “Relationship Anarchism” meetings, co-facilitaed by former Weatherman, Bill Bums, was a school of learning how to effectively communicate ‘With Self and others ia a productive and liberating way. These meetings have taught ime skills I desperately needed, especially after years of solitary confinement. | then went underground tc Atlanta & was pleased with the anarchists ative in protest 4& fighting eviccons and home foreclosures in the Old 4* Ward. One ofthe bullings 1 ‘mainly slept in was an abandoned shelter the Occupiers in Atlanta had taken ove, ‘where some eight hurdred homeless 90or people slept in each night. I began to mainly reside on the third floor withthe comenunity organizers & radicals, surrounded by protest posters where about thirly or s0 other anarchists, communists & socialists slept on various mattresses on the floor with weekly schedules for actions & leftist agendas. We'd eat together and watched redical documentaries on DVD's reviewing well-documented, thcught provoking & informative filme. like Zeitgeist and Immaculate Deception. Not wanting to be complacent, however, 1 wanted ‘open a new base areaof resistance and withthe asisiance of au Atlantean conwade, ‘singled outa wooden. abandoned shack in the Vine City neightorhood behind the Georgia Dome. During the day, I'd rep with some ofthe people inthe ‘hood, letting them know I was active in the Occupy Movement, subtly confirming that [was in the Struggle forthe people to ease any worries of where I was coming from. This particular neighborhood (the Vine Ciry neighborhood, located right behind the Georgia Dome where the Atlant Hawks play and rake in billions off revenue) is replete with Rlask pewerty and min-down abandoned buildings. The building I picked ‘out was ona hill. Someone had donazed bol-cutters to the Movement so fopping the macterlock wae relatively eazy, nd Limmediately ze: out cleaning the place. In this neighbortood in the Atlanta, Td hear hours-long shoot-outs throughout the sight, as in Chicago, while hanging protest posters on the wall and cleaning the shack, In the room I slept ona matress in, tere were two bulletholes which I used as peep- holes and recall glancing aa funeral procession through tiem a couple days aftr the sound of AK-47s and shotguns reverberated throughout the ghetto. Iphoned Mr. Rayson and let him know | was working on a project and asked him to mail me 8 package of zines from South Chicago that could build alteraure table with, © | could pass anarchist writings from the squat and my backpack. He mailed me two, hefty packages of relevant literature, but the day was to canvass the mats ias, I was re-arrested for “Occupying a placard building;” and afler four months in Adank, | was sent back wo prison in Pennsylvania for vitating parole afer about a yearon the run, with only 2 few montas remaining on my 1S year sentence. ‘Once back inside, I co-organized the frst Relationship Anarchiim-Prison Chapter withthe assstarce of Bill Burns and comrade Zach who'd send the Prison Chapter literature and leters of Solidarity from Chicago. Political prisoner ard long-distance revolutionary. Mumia Abu-Jamal, who'd just been released inta the frison's General Population from Death Row after thity years, and I would also meet at certain times in the prison library. Our convereatione were a potent source of motivation for ine. Before leaving the prson in January, 2013, he wrote me a ete, encouraging me to, ‘Bulld the Movement! Hep en be pon nua camp! Hl en est henas creat 4 Iai te Monts Baal POL ee Sent atesmy hte Cae oth eet isa Ni Fm nay saree ee or SN Kanai mca neonates eee tonto ames in ee ah Phd wpaedn bhai pe one Gad eg Acca se weep realy ra ig Miro an hand ees le enna ma Cin Lt fia eit nin be Back troy ee teary en bmg capsaicin Hees ober sneer ee pelt wi Ura Sim, Bo Fontes ee Baa tom tc baie yas goa ena sha suatingh beta enero a Sima umes ep an hoe sek then rattan etree ewe snc Dg tr He Case ened Fe odes econ yc et in Vintec Mota eds We Counc stant Brun crn este ce tin Pe SiN mean ara GenCore Beare, ny sung sage ce ane! ‘sete Coma Loan nate aie es a sonnet ‘rao Src et bangs noeagohn Sk Peo Mest inpion fend ium afelonge ornate een panty vane mrss et ‘fe my betiet that the more people who grow sick ofthis impoverishing system in the shettos and prisons, the more of us wll recognize the need to overthrow i. ‘The more the Idea of anarchist revolution spreads, the closer we have-nots will come to liberating ourselves from tie socal forces that dominate our existence; because ‘When itcomes dovm to it- when ifs all raid end dane - liberation lic within our own, hands, Fash one Teach ove. Randi Hybachi LeMar ‘Septerter, 2014, Chicago ‘The government resists; it is savage in its repressions. But, though formerly persecution killed the energy of the oppressed, ‘now, in periods of excitement, it produces the opposite result. It Drovokes new acts of revolt, individual and collective; it drives the rebels to heroism; and in rapid succession these acts spread, become general, develop." ~ Peter Kropatkin Anarchitudes ”e Beloved are you who neither rule nor accept being ruled by ary Embraced are you whose conscious revolution returns you collected from the Uattlefield of Mind’s ambivalent struggle ‘Be not ashamed if society shuns you as en oulcast. Better to lead one’s life an outcast than follow an order of nuts in frankensteinian syne. Let not the soul be disquieted in you who'd rather restin the arms of liberation. ‘than reawake at midnight a prisoner to your own Conscience. Beloved are you who upli the discouraged. ‘The world is much in need of you. Cherished, the autonomous nature that reaches where no arms are powerful ‘enough to institutionalize the truths that liberate her, which confides in me, in her intimate whisper that my psyche is meant to be governed by none other Sell Tor the liberty of my Reason, and yours, were never theirs to domesticate; and where Understanding is widened, ignorance becomes swallowed up unti itis ‘purged in the shaking of every anarchist society gives birth to and filth of our present day life, is instinctively sympathetic to anarchy, Everyone whose heart is not dead to compassion and fellow sympathy must be eryone whe hi uy and oppression, should welcome the coming of anarchy, Every liberty and justice-loving man and woman should help realize it.” to wnuduure power ~ Alexander Berkman PREFACE 4 “Tre sesuaty deprived eng ising an naping within thering shes of ‘one's inhibitions -exposts an ever-iiftng silhouere In the fabric ct conditions which struggles in vain to contain ‘Where the rele ibs of every neglected need protrudes from the unacknowledged existence it so tirelessly writhes in ‘What crcl force has summoned the fingers of Reason io wrap thenselves so ‘sacistically around the throat of our inner freak? - That abnormally formed organism, Unf for an uncuriows world conformed t» canJemm ita a contorted "menstrity" We gagit in the center ef our peychic cellar & swiich the Fight out oni slamming the door behind us! We deacbolt & lock it with a thousand latches of loge, and desperately run as far as re imagination will accep us ‘But always, eventually, we're wakened by the adarant legs ofthe chair that we've bound ito as they begin to rate in evaling thrusts of Defiance! And despite how ddesgerately we slam our eyes closed to iit becomes inescapably clear how vainly we struggle to writhe ourselves fre of ite muffled pleas! How much longer must we ge on like this? For how much longer can we go os living thie way? For how muck longer must we suffer by denying who we truly are & what we desperately need, before we fee ourselves from the unyielding least of adeprived depraved existence? In the darkest pit ofamerika, there exists an usclept soul, aching toseyungitate its existence from this consuming socia| esophagus; only to fee! te calloused fingers of Formality squeeze tighter.and tighter For, formality toa freak - isa litary of motionless choirs invoking discord from the oor of anirredeemable sensual nature; where the incessant preaching of lien moras Struggles t ethically govern & exorcize the spirit of Resistance from the laboring bods it disempowers Gyrating in an orgy of uncertainties, Reason gasps through the arching ofeach out- swetched throa, for LIBERATION. To he delivered. It gulps to be rleased from Ure ‘unnatural demands that conventional decency +0 cruelly equites! recess grove tiny dain sci tex rng es possessing authority, and s governed class who arc comirated in some way, shape er form by such authonty. The underprivileged recognizes which side ofthe line they walk on and that ther live arc reganded with ess vale than others in commanding ‘ocidl positions. The underprivileged often fight to cross that line, not to destroy the Syctem of inequality, but © become a person ina commarding social position, 2s well the System (of Domination) is sill itact, however, 0 even theugh the lass erosser ‘may help some (suck as hisher family or immediate fiers) millions remain impoverished, starved & trutalized ca a daily basis. Govemments ae, forthe mos part, not loved” but feared by the deprived & = 1D. Aepraved who they gover There exists an unresolved resentrent against the rich in every ghetto and slam & an irreverence for every law perpetuated grins! the cles ofthe oor ‘The deprived & depraved reach the inevitable conclusion tha: government politicians provide nothing but lip service and pillow talk to the poo: whe only cnd ap geting "screwed over" once those government politicians are elected; that governments are under the mercy of tanks and the rich & elite few, and thatthe people wto put on ‘uniforms to invade cther countries for them are maneuverable pawns inthe firgers of imperialist powers. The deprived and depraved ate raed in an atmosphere of desperation and violence, and those of us who by cance survive long enough to seek afier Truth and question ‘our place in this world besome a formidable threat a threat tonot only unwanted domination but tothe very idea of authority itself. “The deprived and depraved find themseives reading obscure books & radicalizing literature hat the wardens of Reason, and dominatos of socievy don't want them to read, But they become coveted all the more; their phrases, intimately menorized and silently whispered aioud inthe dark. What would've previously been taken as "crazy" is naw considered more intently anc readin private & shared in thecircle of others ‘who can relate The hand which fte perfectly into the glove of thi sot isthe fst of liberation which rises to free society and the self from all coercive forces of dominaticn, ‘The deprived & deprived among us know, perhaps more than anyone else, that our desire 1o liberate ourselves remains even wher all ese feels lost Anonymous in An Anonymous Crowd. Bree esnen vn edn tees Seno i ee words: “Long live Anarchy!” were transmitted from the restraints of Nicola ‘Sacco's electrocutioners char, Italian anarchist Bartolomeo Varzetti described himself in his A Proletarian Life as ‘anorymous in an azonymous crowd.” Chapter 1 3 When All Else Feels Lost V V can citer allow ourselves to become bumed out by the perpetual breath of (Qn the global front: All ove, civil wars are enuptng - from South Amerika tothe {isan Eas for Independence. Imperalism runs amok on te hybrid fet of comets and forcign policy makers; and through all the swelter, about ss billion fons Aste forking of our Keason one may ask: "Wel, mankind is by natwe evi ifthe spear that be became no more, ‘anarchy’ would come about and people woud no rharee they could and asevil cs they coud, and the word would fe apert "It ‘Tonara first by asking whai that inquisitive mind docs sealing apart ight how. To illustrate few more examples: ‘majority of whick has been attributed to government forces. tr Apri06, hen the Peopl’s Movement (Jana Andolan) in Nepal detroed King One of their seventy-five districts, soaring the civilian casual rae and leaving thee Country on the brink of disaster, {nt within 24 hours of you reading this, 27,000 children world - wide will have died frm hunger and treatable disease, Secondly, Pdask that insividsal where she was fel ther definition of marchism. tm tose who ate in favor of the people beng govered fom those wh spl the hand ofa governing pretext of which heartless laws are so unnatural hey need Perennial reammending, or from the heart & human conscience, which beckons ‘woman to think for oneself and w examine the nature of one's own conduct oad Anarchism is" Liberariansm agains Autboriaianism..ashesry that ership ‘exerised by one set of mea over others isthe result of invasive compulsicn on the basis hat Might makes Right wich s wrong, waste, harmful and ncediss” Emma Goldman). It was used derogatorily by governments (some say to the 18th and 19th century English and French revolutionaries) as an insult to those "radical" thinkers ‘toes toca viewe conflicted withthe ug minoriy who exerted ower over the. Normal people ice you an | wa0 saw the way things were and defi rebelled fest ie pepe sinc by he tc Ue parent cite who src Sn theircay Anarchist knowledge. “Knowledge is power... Knowledge only ever gives you power over those who are ignorant of it. This is why those with authority are clandestine and tell untruths: they need others tobe unaware of what is going on to maintain their position. ~David Southwell T. ‘word "Anarchism" comes from the Greek root word “ar” (meaning "nt", nd “archie" (meaning “rule"); it etymological translates into meaning “not rule” |nmeans that no human being has the right govern nother huryan being: it ‘emphasizes thatthe government of one hurran being ever another human being is slavery ‘Anarchism cpposzs all forms of coercive authority and confirms that not only are societal governments harmfil, but that they are inherently unethical, needless and works in opposition to the dignity of liseraton and the self - determination of society, as well, Contrary to what governments struggle to deceive the pwople they govern io believing, anarchism doesn't mean chaas or disorder, bat rather, harmony and social equuliy without government rue. ts under govemment, in Fact, that society finds "chaos" and "disorder." Allone must ‘dc is simply reflect on their own ife and look out their very window a this truth. From the struggle to make ends meet, tothe drug addictions we've been reduced to in ‘our efforts to mentally cope. From prison profiteers like the Corrections Corporation ‘of America tothe wide gulf between the haves and the have - not Anarchists uphold that the idea of “might makes right is wrong: that povery in 2 world ef plenty is unnecessary and tha: no human being is superior ot infeior to ‘another. It encourages vou to look bolély ino theeye of any who would claim of authority over your existence and understand the relevance of human cignity and the dignity every other human being deserves (asa haman being). ‘Anarchism is a philosophy cf social freedom embraced by common people of every completion, with deep roots nurturing the sprit of Liberation in exploited and ‘ogpressed people all over the planet: fiom Pierre Proudhon in France to Emma Goldman & Alexander Rerkman in Russia. From Durati, and "Paco" in Spain, tothe anarchists in Chia, Kerea and throughout Asia Anarchist collectives (organizations) such as Zabalaza in Joharmesburg, South Africa ‘tively serve the people for libration, and briliant revolutionary activists such as ‘Sam Mba produce literature relevant to all of us in the Straggle In America, alene, ‘Anthony Rayson, Locenzo Kon'boa Ervin, Jane Doe, and an indefatigable host of| ‘others continue to inspire millicns with an understanding & need for we, as a people. to govern ourselves. 1S ‘All laws are directed against the working people (our socal class Even the choo! serves only the purpose of furnishing the aflspring ofthe ‘wealthy with those qualities necessary te uphold thelr dass domination. (Tite pevple)dherefore can expect 0 help trom any capitalist party ia their struggle agaist the existing system. ‘They must achieve hei liberation by ther own efforts." -AlbertParsans ‘As apolincal science, anarchism challenges all systems of coercive domination: ‘economic dominatios, gender and racial inequality, and psychological dominaton, as well. Wasiats in the developing of many of us in the ghetos & in the prisons (the eye of Oppressions storm) from shiflless thugs into urdhwartable revolutionaries, ‘As asocilphilbsoply which promos equality, there aremany nonelgious as well ‘5 sf proclaine religious people who acknowledge themselves as anarchists There ‘are anarchists who happen tobe atheists as well as aarcho-Chiistiars anc Muslims \who recognize he need for we as hunan beings to live in freedom & hamony regardless of our various religicus oF non-religious perspectives, ‘Anarchist are aot only ant-auhoritarians, we are also ani-apitaliss who fight to replace the impovershing capialist society with collective socialism & unis Aid ‘The sims of anarchist-communism involves our communities (he people, ourselves) to. tarough organized sirggle- be catalyse in liberating the fectorie, warehouses & farms from the hands of government corporations into the rightful hands ofthe people ‘who work them. Anarchiss recognize tha government coxporaions explit the people 85 wage -slaver whe labo: fr their profit while we, the workers ofthe word, continue w live hand-o-mout in spite ofour sweat ‘There are pacifist inthe Movement who believe in achieving these aims through nen = vilent means and there arecther anarchists who recoguize that though pacifism is, ‘dea, those in power will never give the people economic & social freedcm without fight Both, however work together as human beings in a united Suuggle confronting injusice and societal ills trough a dversiy of tactics with love in oar hears and collective freedom on our minds ‘A fee society frer world «sone that int governed by coercive authority ii one hich is governed fvely end co-opeatively bythe people, ourselves. I's a living Vine which rics above the conceptof master and Save ‘When we look down the path where Reason finds ne place for exploitation, we find that asa collective, many of tocay's rising societal functions are anarchist in nature in ‘that they con't rely on the govemmeat to ook out for society when society's in need ‘The Anarchist Red Cross i a classic example, as well asthe more modern, such as the Aeceatralized Food Not Bombs (FNB), Earth Liberation Front (ELF), ané the Anarchist Black Cross collectives, whose inspiration and dedication towacd the individual awakening of the most marginalized people is summoning an Understanding for the necesity for direct democracy in contraistinetion ‘o facade of representative democracy which society is becoxning ever more disillusioned with Direst democracy offers ahancs- in- the mud approach to Liberaton in broader Circles amid a rising wave of oer collectives sprouting to nourish the many, estes ness the powers that be oenavelyneglss a8 demonstated in New (Orleans, where on August 29,2005 he world hook its head in repulsion as nearly two thousand Ives were Inst and thusands more, displaced in Hurrcane Karina, People everywhere watched and wondered: "Whereis their govenment?™. and years ater the disaster askthe same queston, drawing humanitarian attenion, including 871 volunteers (common, everyday people) on February 28th, 2007 to provide health careto the poor and neglected survivors - abou 4000 patents from tens whe came ‘without penmssion fom he goverment he same powers we watched tke Dur daysto sead a FEMA truck - a fellow human beings with knowledge in nursing, rmediine, heal care work and mos, re spit and ea’ ane otelp, strengthen and provide needed ‘This exemplifies the spirit of what animared the body of Wiliam Godwies(1756- 1836) teachings, and inspred him to pen that, ‘Dut is tht made of action on the part ofthe individual which constites the best posible application of his capacity tothe ‘general benefit” Ou New Orlean loved ones sil sue from the storm in many ‘ways, psysholegialy, as well as economically. (By the exd of 2007 for example, the cost of rent rose 48% higher than pre Katrina) and with on going support deserve oor commendation as survivors in deed who peservere, even in time of need, as With all who Find ourselves standing in she Breaking of var levis, RESIST! REBEL! DEFY! BACKLASH "Hanged in Chicago, beheaded in Germany, garroted in Xerex shot in Barcelona, guillotined in Montbrison and in Paris, our dead are many: but youhave not been ‘able to destroy anarchy. I's roots grow deep. I! sprouts fiom the bosom of a rotien society tha is falling apart; i a violem backlash against the established order: it stands forthe aspirations to equality and liberty which hove entered the lists against the current authoritarianism. Itis everywhere, Thatis what makes it indomitable." Emile Henry (1872-1894) to his jailer shortly before his execution for detonating hhand-made explosive atthe Gare Saint-Lazare. ‘THE SHELL: The ebservable exterior - it appears easy to grasp: to conveniently manipulate or kick around at one's own dis/pleasure. Commen, it seems; insubstantial and harmless. But existing deep within its eemingly paceive & controllable stat Tics a core, a nerve ‘center within which harnesses all which the fingers of society andthe existing order has manufactured & discanded into the rexevoirs of te collective socal subconscious. lus Potential; “unacknowledged” 1s Velaniry: Obscured, Beware, any tyrant or tyrannical insttution who would so carelessly (misihandle such ‘none. Upon hs arrival into the States on June 19, 1908, the dreams of entering a courtry rich with the mystique of new optimisms were shattered as were those of many ‘others who migrated into the bowels of the amerkan “hell nit ” ‘7 {mn fact, though he ad lived fairly decently in his native land ~ moving principally to "put the seas between him and the grief of losing his mother to cane «he found evilia lifein this country much crueler and mach harsher than the one he'd lef. ‘ma letter to ie aunt, he conveyed how he'd, "seen human greed aud egotism potson every moutfulofood...darken the glory of the sun, violate natural law...nurture corruption, plani hatred..every kind of ‘shame, every kind of misery.” ‘The repressive round-ups ofradicals, people beirg killed on picket lines, mass deportations & framing of thousands of sacialists (maay who were anarchists) pretesting Exploitation as well as the frst World War, were becoming countered ‘withthe knee,jerking reflex of Propaganda By Deed. {was atime when violent retributions were being called to the fore, and frustrated radicals across the country were responding to the call Ingenuously crafted home-made explosives were mailed to heavy duty exploiters, including Jokn D. Rockefeller himself, in manila envelopes concealing meallic. slug-laced dynamite sticks & stim vial of acid, Inconsolable sommuniques ftom The Anarchist Fighters denouncing the tyrannical institutions ofthe amerikan power structure reverberated with the detonation of midnight bombs in New York, Pittsburgh, Boston, and New Jersey. Moreover, & Red Scare was beginning to include a rumber of fearless Blacks. ‘A manul, entitled "La Salute e in Voi! ("The Health is within You!"), by Luigi Galleani,furtyer educated many with ashort tuse for government violence in the incendiary craft, In one instance, ons unfortunate (but brave) attenater accidentally blew himself up ‘after tripping on porch steps down the treet from the not-yet-Presidert Franklin D. Rocevelts home ina D.C. suburb, In 2008. as the buzring gate clinked behind me upon my diccharge from SCI- GREENE, I couldrt help but feel anonymous in en anonymous crowd; and "Ym sure many ex-offencers & have-nots striving on the margins of society ean relate. I's an understanding that is intimately felt in those of us who find itharder ‘& harder to ignore the czeakings in our Conscience which those who govern our lives so tempermentally tamper with As inheritors of the disinherited Voice which calls for EQUALITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE snd FREEDOM WITIIOUT RESTRAINT, let's further examine the state of saciety we co-exist in; how we relate to others in STRUGGLE across the world; and sec how we can push the envelope forward to activating a more ‘idyllic way of living without tipping and blowing ourselves up inthe process. To Contact Hybachi Lemar, write to: IWW General Headquarters (GHQ) P.O. Box 180195 / Chicago, IL. 60618 An Understanding of Social Forces '” Waite tre quote which opens this chaner nay bombard some wth felings of apprehension and antipathy. many from other walks of life — including our own — can relate in a way that may appear taboo to the more privileged of the world From the water pollated slums of Haiti othe single mether struggling to make ends meet, even crying, cep into te night of Amerika, The excessive demands and way of life we've been forced to obey by ths expletive establishment are cockcailec with perpetual inequality, inexplicable oppression and pervasive, instistionalized violence. This and a host of other suppressed realities bombarding the underprivileged masses, And fortuntely, for society and the love necessary 1» deve'op and nurture collective growth; you can only held doen so many upside down cups inthe sik of Poverty so long until then five, shoots uo and rises to the suf! ‘Emma Goldmen relates tese fierce bombardments to te brewing of a storm: “To the earnest student it must be apparent thatthe arcuntulated fonres in our social and economic life, are similar tc the errors of the atmosphere, manifested in storm and lightening.” ‘And that, “to thoroughly appreciate this view. one must jel the indignity of our secial verongs: one # Being must throb with the pai, the sormow, the despair millions of ‘people are daily ade to erdure"(3) While it isa necessary step forward for society to evolve from the primitivity of violence, it would be naive to ignore the hostile hard many have so honorably resisted With practical (as well as ideological) refutation ‘From the peaceful Salt Murch protests of Ghandi inthe face of thearm-wieleing imperialist government (over India) tthe “By Any Mears Necessary” defiance agains! Power of Malcom X, and the demonstretions tear-gassed in the face of the parasitic G8 Commission, in Pittsburgh at the closing of 2003: It's been historic struggle; and unil Liberty is ne longer an empty word, out “inner being” throbs for the inception of this higher ideal! An understanding ofsociel forces is. pivotal step in due life of an individual and a society, asa whole. 1s the Peculiar Awakening within the oppressed human being. It's the momentous tour thatthe light “tums on’ i the faculty of our Reason. 1s the moment we look into the mitor, and question, ‘The first step in resolving a crisis isto first recognize that a crisis “exists.” The ‘every-day crises we struggle in subjection to are (and quite literally) ‘overwhelming, making their presences known in a restless way. ‘Outside (and even within) the monotonous chaos o* social life todsy in amerika, ‘we wonder why we feel so uncomprehensively isolated, So relentlessly held hack and subjected to the unyielding scourge ofthese intolerable forces, ‘These intense pressures are what becomes of life within the demeaning hands dictation and ccercive authority. ‘Tocris so unanally bound othe mercy of foreign wil unmons within, an atstentl waren one thatrefuses tobe ary lorger ignored cling och Ise frees ofthe sl which acho nthe deg lsics ee rebellious lashed to 19 ‘Alexander Berkman gave this careful attention when he noted how, Beneath the spirit of inolerance and persecution is th habit ofautharity coercion to conform to dominant standards, compulsion = moral and legal - to be ‘andact es others, according to precedevt ara ru.” (ABC of Ataschsm) (When we look at our lives and of those around us, we see that many of our lives (ray millions) have been tured upside down, due to poverty, imprisonment, cis- Case, and the arduous struggle to fit into something our nature forbids seenow tha no one deserves the hand from this “setch" wee perpetually dealt! Tht it doesnt sit right in us knowing that we serve such an ireavable {achine which so apathetically ignores the grumbling in tke hunger pain ef the Conscience. 1°34 painful pill for preachers and moral scholars to swallow that so unanyin aunetika find suicide an altemative more tolerable thin these aparently Goverment is nothing more than a pavm-mover which serves to gratify the poet oft parasic elite. And the advantage of Privilege amoug deel is only 438 secure asthe dis-advantage maintained by the masses they disempewer ‘The princes of easter India went so fat as to use living people in chess games, on checker board pavements from the veranda they amused themselves on in tee (hephilesophy of Anarchism teaches that once we operate without kings (oresidenrs, lindlords, bosses, as well s anyone e'se who would lay deeation to 4nd determine our existence), the findanentalsrif that comes with “avantage™ and “disadvaniags” would not only cease to exist, but would be apracical and ‘ational advantage tall - ethically, economically, and spiritually, as well “No man has the right 10 govern another nun, *— Francisco Ascaso Of Sedition, the Vices of Established Morality, and the Inclination toward Universal Rebellion “Many chim that itis insane to resist the sateen; but actually, itis insane not to Mumia Abu-Jamal Sedition.|, An insurrection against constituied authority, 20 2. Conduct consisting of writing, or acting against an established government or seeking fo overthrow it by unlawful means resistance to lawfu! authority, Many incuisitvely ask: *Why Revolution? Life is more than revolting: it’s more than Rebellion,” to which I reply that to abstain from standing up to alife of injustice isto fal in co-operation with every injustice extant. History 1s loaded with seditious spirits unaftaid to challenge the “morality” of their respective era; not only deologicaly, but practically, as well! In ancient Rome, when the slave-owner Lentulus Batiates indulged his moral ‘appetite by piting is trained slaves against each other in gladiacor school (and bbours), seventy-six of his prisoners (including the infamous Sparticus) decided to revolt ugainst their condition devising a well-planned :nsurreetion, managing to steal knives from the cook shop, uitimetely leading to their escape & eventual organizing with the local agricultural staves who swelied their numbers. No longer would they bend the knee of their Conscience tothe cictates of their Roman lords. In the nct-so-distant past, the moral constitution of amerike was also met with seditious opposition by many of its slaves & their abolitionist comrades wiio ‘understood all to intimately the necessity in rebelling against the mores of the established order (much to the reproach of the most adamant authorities), even in the face of Death, itself ‘These were the Not Turners and the John Browne ofthe era whose defiance rerrinds us that our hursan dignity is @ code more worthy of living by than the ‘customs & values Capitalism seeks to confine ust. Oriental Sedition “Moreover, before the Soviet Revolution brought Leninism to China (1917), the majority of socialists on the scene were anarchists who challenged the institutional “They eloquently put forward ideas of egalitaricnism especially emancipation of ‘women from family bords and of the peasantry from exploitation that would ‘become part ofthe Chinese vocabulary of revolution.” (bus Faitbauk, “Chine. A New History.”1992) Proudhen, Kropotkin, and Bakunin were studied, and with articulation the need to revolt against the aristocratic Confucianism was indefectibly broken dowa: this seditious ideology of Equality went against every moral principle the ancient 2 the rights and needs cf others must replace the dismal search for maximizatian of personal power & consumption ifthe barbarism of capitalist society is to be Noam Chomsky, Radical Priorities Its the weed of “civilzing” which chokes the individual's reasoning powers that ‘ihe may grew accustomed tothe ides of forfeiting their liberty at another's convenience. But wher the individual, stunted from reaching his ar her essence is abie to reach becomes fed up the feeling disempowered, the individual then hheromes aware that s/te's bien duped that actually it ie government which is the inventor of war, that itis its legislations that evekes disorder ard the chaos which allof us see manifesting itself im the here and new. ‘When one overstands that to be compelled to pay for rent, to tax-tithe and to pay for such for fundemental human need, such as food and water, that # boils down, ‘to nothing less than “legalized extortion,” the individual seditously opens their eyes to the inuth, disenchanted from the pendulum of the anverikan dream whieh hhas governed them in their somnambulisic state. S/he sees and rightly asserts their tight to resist andis confronted with the choice of eitier exercising or not exercising this right. ‘Though the vices which virally predominate society are as das established society itself, we can liberate ourselves from its deseting stunghold by dismerbering its moral fiber and foundations and rebuilding our lives withthe vintues of anarchist theory and practice. ‘The world, of course won't be emtrely free of imperfections, but considering the ‘countless and life-arresting struggle destroying us day in & day out, we can understand where Alexander Berkman was coming ftom with better clarity when he stated: “Certain other crimes will persist for some time, such us those resulting from Jealousy, passion, and from the spirit of coercion and violence whick dominates the ‘world wo-ay. Bus these, the offipring of euthority and possestion, will gradually disappear under wholesome conditions with the passing away of the aimosphere ‘that cultivated them. Inconctusion ws Anarchist Morality Peter Kropotkin relstes Human Ihcught to the swinging of a pendulum, which - through time “fees herselfrom the chairs with which..rulers, lawyers clerics have carefully enwound her “Ste shaters the chains, "he went onto elcid, “She sabes tert a tht hasbeen taught her” . ‘oem 22 “The brevity of ie & ts creastances confi tat time forus toute the smemontim ef ures desi and fre ourselves ffm ihe eas of every governing foe holding ws back: ere and abroud Ore NPR broacast recently aie, forexampl, how many emiges ae vecing how desperately the N: Korean government insulates te masts fom the “nie werd Wile heir oe fr ther comin profound, its when many fst Sout Kore, China, and esewhere that theyre abletosee~ from te ousie looking it~ how docoptney medias ocacullydiotec ter world ‘Where pressions this severe, tere can only (aaturly) grow an ntnation tovard an everamassing weve o! poplar vol ‘The repressive force is, consequentially, able to give rise toa resistance reminiscent (but unique) of the infamous 1919 uprising against the Japanese ‘occupation, and the Uiyoltan (Band of Herces), Korean Anarchist Federation (KAP) & Black Flag Alliance which arose in its wake Reminiscent, in that, mass resistance is a conceivable threat should the people at lange resist their own invasive government, its nuclea: threat and media-muscling technology. Unique, in that, whereas major revolts (like the Kiria Revolution in neighboring Manchuria { 1929-1931] ) were primarily peasant uprisings, the dynamics of resistance are shifting toward a more urbanized setting, Like Kropoikin, Errico Malatesta (4853-1932) observed that humonity 4s “enslaved from the triple viewpcint, economic, political, and moral." Concerning the latter cf the three ~ the moral enslavement it shoulk be remembered thar there'll always be people in this world iho attack you morally as you advance toward q se-actualized existence, ‘Whether you're dealing with people in postions of power, jealous-driven individuals, or the judgmental & self-righteous who get off on demoralizing and bringing you down in the world. The key is to make a mental note of it and move ‘on: refusing to be "enslaved." Slavery of every form is the very thing tha: we todestroy. Everything that imprisons the humar potential be itecoromicaly, politically or “marally’ motivated. sa pricrity that we share as responsitle, dedicated (and radical) beings. And its a daring, courageous defience against our previous faults as well as all such moral and character assassination atempts 24 Chomsky understands the importance ef this when he communicates to us that: “Anger, outrage. confessions of overwhelming guilt mey be good therepy: they can also become « barrier to effective action, which can always be made to seem incemmensurable with the enormity ofthe crime. Nothing i: cuter than to adopt a new form of selfindulgence, no less debilitating than that the old apathy. The ‘danger 1s substantial. It's hardly o novel insight that confessions of guilt can be instiutionalized asa technique for evading what must be dene.” (Radical Priorities) To free ourselves from this self-destructive indulgence, it's important we never lose sight of cur Purpose (Our Puipuse is assist in picking up and freeing our people) in a world that needs us not fo give up whenever welre momentarily thrown fo the ‘ground! Remembering that you're never alone -reganiless of wherever yeu are in life ‘grounded in as much truch as Lou Marinoff's words, when he advises the morally targeted reader to "See if you vam pructive moral selfdefense by refusing to accept an offense next ‘ime itis offered to you. At the elementary level, do not take the offense personally. ‘you are not obliged to.” (Therapy for the Sane) Regardless of whatever history you may have, remember that no one's is lawless and that i's our call to see the stumbling blocks in our lives as stepping stores, that ‘We may be able to overcome them, and not only this, but to help those atthe bottom of society's barvel overcome them, as Well ‘The very future depends on us reexamining te pitfalls of our past. It depends or the rebellious breaking-away from individual as well as universal coercion! "Srrugele! For to struggle isto lve, and the fiercer the struggle the intenser the life. Then you will have lived: and a fow hours of such life are worth years speat vegetating.”. Peter Krepotkn Resist Imperialist Wars! Imperialism. (n) The policy of extending a nation's authority by acquisitien of terrtory or by the establishment of hegemony (the influence of one sate over others) over other nations “Ifthe Nuremberg laws were apylied then every post-war American president ‘would have beea hanged" -Noam Chomsky We impoverished Blacks, Hispanics and all other non-white & Marginalized in amerika share an inalienable affinity with all who systematically thrive in the throes of class struggle. ‘The advantages of resisting the state machine isn't confined to the amerkan prison rises and day-to-day survival in the streets: i's advantageous to the Pryce masses whoss hands ars tied behind our bucks inevery cit, 22S prison, and canitalis-run nation around the world! eve menaced by its Get down on the ground and stay down dtations and only through & transnational cisplay of soliderty wan we unatness the love that cam Uplift us from its parasitic Despair, We will return to this butbefore we do t spould be noted thatthe amerkan govemment is responsible for bombing atleast 440 counties since World War I. Hew area few: 1945-46 Lybia: 1986 Korea: 1950-53 El Salvador: 1980's Nicaragua : 1980's Panama: 1989 Cambodia: 1969-70, Lebanon: 1983-84 AWORLD OF SLUMS: BREEDING GROUND FOR A GENERATION OF ANTI-IMPERIALIST AND ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN REBELS Hlarorae extent -ove 32 bin pope i uta nd wh te ‘id2.2%annal emu rte Cones Benue epee mrbers ae expected teach the ilion maskin 2017, iting 49 toe Ermer tft at Sates havea significant sare his equation «ft fs thos soe ‘ane i ese Rely pelted ban aa" tweet The acquistion of tertory has been an obvious method for gaining control since colonialism began. ‘The surviving 0.9% of Native amerikans are painfully avare ofthis fact and so are "many of us (Blacks) who are familia withthe history of the Middle Passage, Gespite the despotic eTorts ofthe goverment to distract us from these truths in our ‘everyday lives in the streets. In the havoc of trying to meatally make it out the walls of a marginalized existence we fel closing unmereifully in on us and our imhereat potential. In reviewing this development, researchers Peter and Ginge Breggin focused 26 inven on this oleic phenomenen a arly as 608 ebertng ta "Ove ‘many deradesfllovng the Civil Wa, lacks were diven fom te and hve) and ied W gate major cies nse fr dual os and domestic work." They calculated how, "Black land loss exceeded 6 billion acres by 1974." That's, considerably, an enormous amount of production power to be stripped from 2 people, to say the least! Onan even ver sal, the imperil govemmet of amerika Nees ts muscleon very comb ican rae ts amas cores inpan it ose up end expo. With about 1.3 million cutremly servicing its Reserves WORLDWIDE, an astounding 20.5 % of government spending was 0% "Nationl Defense” in 2008; nearly 1.1 milbon soldiers serving its armed forces serving its armed forces in the US. and its "territories." Over 85,000 stationed throughout Europe. Some 70-odd thousand force-servers acraxs Russia, E. Asia and the Pacific. Over §,000 throughout Affika, the near Esst & Scuth Asia, including 2,500 in Afrika's subsaharan regions! While many may imagine that such "Occupational Leverage! is safe and well- intentioned, and that foreign policy 1s patriotically favorable from whai’s seen on 'y, (especially on "be all you can be, join the army" commercials), more ané more of amerika's brutalized & oppressed are becoming long disilusioned. Nearly two and s half million, A large perceniage of prison guards we witness oppressing us and have a history of serving in the military Take Hait, for instance. Clearly it’s no coincidence thal suck a humanitarian relief effort forthe hundreds of thousands of impoverished lives lest inthe January 2010 earthquake was so heavily broadcasted the way that it was. It was during wartime: ‘war-time in which many right-wing conservatives were beginning to visibly grow 'o losthe & demonstrate slongside those on tke lef. (Ala the Tea Party; Ron Paul, etc.) Haiti had been suffering as the pootest country on the westem hemisphere for ‘wo whole yeas, prior wo the sudden outcry for world atention, Ifthe Amenkan. government was so concemed, why wasnt the extreme poverty crisis in Haiti ‘covered as an agenda itera when news on the Haitian President Jean Bertrand Arist de) being ousted was being covered as recently as 20047 It says a lot, when not only two years pror- when war-time sympathizers were a ittle more visible; the arreriken government, itself, was beirg charged with withholding $54 milion from Haiti for political leverage over the courtry. Money ‘hat was meant to provide clean water (for the “poorest country on the westem ‘hemisphere;" remember.) It speaks volumes to reflect how when this pictures of torture (water-hoarding) of political prisoners at Guantanzmo Bay were unearhed, president Obama re‘used to expote the images to the media to show the public. It bears light tthe fact that Capitalism has no Conscience, and the imperalist arm of amerikan capitalism is 8 sygressive instrument thet must be amputated from the politcal life of our social existence, Occupational amerika is 2 missile magnet for the foreign and dorsestically disinnerited who openly declare a "get away ‘rom me - I'm not for you, if anything, Dm AGAINST you" urtery ofrezentment ‘Cindy Shechan and the Code Pink activists are bull-horning anti-war rallies ia the face of government bostility in California; and during a December 4th, 2009 protest | was active in, the president’ limo was welcomed with vulgarity on the left and shouts of "go home!” on the right, in Penneylvania, 27 ‘This shared feeting of us here in the amenkan slums and those 1n the Middle East, is nothing new. Understanding the ameritan governmen's use of Israel as a strategic asset in the wake of lsrae’sinvesion of Lebanon in 1982, Thomas L. Friedman cited these widely-held sentiments of one Senior Kuwait official: *Youhave lost where it matters most-on the humaritarien level. Whatever respect there was in the Arab world forthe United States as a moral authority has been lost. (Published in the New York Times, Nov.22, 1982) Ina more recert article, Diana West, a writer for United Feature Syndicate, asked Iraqi, Parliamentarian Ayad Jamal Alden whether or not Shiite Iran with Sunni al Oaiida & Sunni Taliban (w test him on a "Washingt replied: "They ll have one enemy. The U.S. - Shia and Sunni differences don't ‘matter to them when it comes to the common enemy.” ‘This “common enemy" realization is what prompted Black Panther Party so- founder Huey P. Newton to shake hands with Arafat in their memorable photo in the generation preceding our own, PRISONS AS BREEDING GROUND FOR ANTI- IMPERIALIST AND ANTI-AUTHORITAIRAN REBELS: ATHOUGHT "The treatment of prisoners gives a certain insight into the nature ofthe ‘conquering army.” -Noam Chomsky fa prisoner in the States celled-up with an imperialized prisoner of war fem ‘abroad, i'd make for some interesting conversation (provided, of course, one were bilingual or bad a cell-neighbor to intepret while ear hustling through the ven Ide intriguing to see how empathy would be shared between the two who'd ‘obviously wouldn'tbe naive tothe fact that is an existential necessity to resist ‘oppression from the psyche, cell, and society, all the same! ‘Surely itd leave an impressicn on the mind to watch them read from the same paper on the war and nod their hesds in agreement that necessary liberties are suppressed waerever Governments are found to exist. And to here the respective backgrounds of both cultures and how both have (at least at some point in their faves) have shared a sense of utter contempt ioward the bourgeoisie in buth ‘countries & how their generation before theirs - their mothers, uncles & aunts - Ihave felt the same, as wel The same malevolert grin the beaten & bare-naked pile of prisoners ubserved the face of Charles Graner as the torture photos at Abu-Ghrahib were being flashed in 2004, isthe same face that U.S prisoners were looking into at SCI-Greene less than five years before, in Pennsylvenia, USA. (Prisoners Filed numerous Crievance Reports on Graner only to have the forms retumed to the prisoner: cells, ruled as “frivolous") 28 ‘Though countries like Lebanon may tend to desert the average mind of the amerkan fublic as litte (or nothing) mere than a distant geographic locale, the fact ‘hot en overwhelming 87% percent of the Lebanese live "urban" alongside rising % percent of us here in the U.S reveals a correspondence thats not so far: veaching. While our cultral lives may éifferin many respects, both stare amarginalized existence. Both have ‘hoods that are armed to the teeth, and are hungry. Inside-outside. Exploitation world-wide is the cultivator of the resistant sentiments itinoubatorily breeds. The Prison Industrial Comples and the Military Industial Complex ate sadistic bedfellows. Insurrectionist anarchist shave this anti-militarst affinity ard have so, for hundreds of years, s well. As far back as 1897, fer example, the insurrectionist- ‘anarchist Michele Angiolio declared at his trial that his act was not only a response tw the repressive force against Spain's anarchists- but was also for “Spain's atrocities in its colonial wars in Cuba & in the Philippines," (Black Flame, Schmidt & van der Walt ‘We prison abolitionists who ae hip tthe ft tht tal itn ave bbor inthe prise indestilcomplex is used forsale in he iit industrial comslex (athe bees inthe Gulf War. for example, We ‘anulaturd by prisoners in aria) shodd understand that he enemy of our emmy is our peat ‘bei lly ae work var e colketivestutle aan ou domestica forin e:my teria se evenday the amerikan governnesL The 'Hood As Breeding Ground for Anti-Imperialist and Anti-Authoritarian Rebels ‘Those of us who know what its like to turn on the kitchen ight at night tothe scatter of roaches; to open the refrigerator door with nothing - or next to nothing inside it, and nothing inthe freezer bute. A can or two of evaporated milk on the cabinet shelf - we know what it means to be "marginalized." We know what it fs keto have our stomachs touching our backs. To fice being ey ae sani fer vr anourat he ed ie hrs ft come, first serve basis. To have the thoughts of selling crack race through the mit before the dca oF RESISTING tive + eso nunpuated By an eso onder is enerine Itabe naive t ignore the fact tha our day-to-day strugele has an impact on view of govemmert which demographically dominates us. 1 exciting to know that more of us ae refusirg to ignore any longer that we exist more asthe possessed than the Possessors (over our very lives!) 29 Copan nde sale Intl bare pen on stud sala ome ypc wh redo oe expsing ay eioy emote ee ae heportbow of nee appa tea Scnctnnaly bas 4h fact, V. Dedijer, in his study, On Military Conventions, analyzed how she true ‘ature of cepitalst societies engage ‘in the process of giving birth to the monster of total war” (One reason is dus tothe fact that, "Rivalries be'ween industrial nations, who fight ‘ver the new markets engenders the permanent hostlity vhich ts expressed inthe ‘theory & practice known as ‘bourgeois naionaiism." Political tensions between the elitist powers are loaded with "permanent hostility" between they ané the offended powers as well asthe disempowered masses wio they exploit And this may come off ss a somewhat tmusual thing to think about to ‘many of us who grew up teritorial-minded in the streets, but many of us start off ‘mutating into "bourgeois nationalists ourselves. How? Rivalry between gang mations fighting over new huslles crack, weed, dope, staps (gunsfirearms}, etc.) has engendered a hostility that’s cost many of us with ‘extreme revolutionary poteatial our lives. Many of us, in fact, come from second, third, and even fourth zeneration gang rivals. Furthermore, "pushin" (drugs, et.) can quickly raise any impoverished person into middle (and even upper clas) status; leaving us further facing the lifedeath |hesilty from those who've already cornered the market. From those who "locked the spot down” ard who'l aways see you es competition in the streas where the Politics of the hustle microoosmically mirrors political tensions between elitist powers, Imesserce, itbecomes a war over money and turf in the city (or suburb), rot much differen than what's taking place in Afghanistan & beyond. ‘So we see, an individual dost necessarily have to walk with their pants up theit burt to fulfil the qualification of being "boojee." We must declare war against every parasite of our people here and abroad. And for those of us who grew up in the streets - we know just how much asociety of cut-thraats is "always in the recess of giving birt tothe monster of total waz" waether we refer to eultural ‘genocide or ruclesr warfare ‘The middle class is vanishing right in font of our eyes. ‘The divide between the rch and the poor continues to visibly widen. Amidst the nbble, however, exist maneuverable terrain for urban guerrillas from the destitute margins of society tosee the logic and necessiry for organizing es stanoe across the slum- belt. Itisnt hard to see why goveramert faces hostility in is foreign policies abroad & Regarding Clothing, a factory full of working-cless union members can refuse to ‘work until business folds, and then take the factory over for free, liberated, ‘communal use. (Hence, the prime importance of joining the Union). Food {from rural farmers working in affinity with us, as well as ood grown from community gardens on what were previously vacant lots} can also be packed, ‘and distributed move efficiently throuen such a coordinates alliance, NO MORE “PATRIOTIC NATIONALISM”: WE WANT WORLD-WIDE INTERCOMMUNAL [COMMUNITY-UNITED) LIBERATION! COurideats about the importance of intercommunalism are based on a frm belie" that only @ federation of free peoples will bring true Black power to the masses. ‘Power (o the people’ does net mean a govemmont or poltical party tp rule in their name, but social and palitcal power in the hands of the people tmemseives.” -Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, (Anarchism & the Black Revolution) “A nation of sheep will 300 havo a government of wolves.” Edward R. Murrow A unification of people sericus enough about social liberation from poltico-economie domination for every human being (which includes oneself) requires a renunciation of allegiance from nationalism & national forces they've been formerly subservient to. In other words, i requires a file of ot No Master and No Stave: a denouncement of favoritism, the idea of national borders, prejudice and cultural bias. ‘While certainly no one shoule forget where they come from, an authentic understanding & desire for social equality must be fully grasped in order that we - as a movement fighting for social equality - are to know where we're going. To daim a particular nation as cne's own raquires a sense of soparation (separatism) from the rest ofthe sociaizeable wotd. Itpoisans 42, ‘the atmosphere of transnationai soldat with “patriotic pride and is responsible for innumerable, devastational wars of aggression. When | say transnational, | mean transcencing nationalism 'tpostins every patristic depioyea & gang-bangor in the word io pinto {Gun at each other rather than seeing each other as Equals and of the same specie. The human specie, possessing what's Known as a human nature, Al of us, alike; geographical coexisting in a world where less than ‘one porcent ofthe population owns more than the Bottom ninety-tive of Us, combined: this “less than one percent" being the unrepentant masters ‘manipulating the unconsciously blind anc unrebelling masses beneath them. Lawrence Zitha of the Tokalago African Anarchist Collective sume it up when he defines Naticnalism as “the idea that your nation is more important than your clas.” 1,000 toot! ‘Banded together as unsubservient internationalists (or rather, infer- ‘communalists) we become able to fraternally faderate & collectively ‘overcome what we can't while in a state of internal wariare. (Note and it's for this very raacon why the anarchist fag is black - ‘signifying allegiance to no nation: governed by none/geverning one.) Pure & Simple, “Better to be laughed at and sefe from the storm than to be caught in the storm just because you didn't want to be laughed at." “Malcolm X Defending neighborhocd blacks from invasion is, in fact, taking place ‘alread (albeit In counter-progtessive form) in gang terrtories such asin LA. & Chicago. So effectively in fac, that banded tngetner- those who force us to pay for everything under the Sun would be in serious trouble should the people in these communities tum from genocidal gang bangers into anti-government rebels. Those interested in tactics may find it beneficial to consider the folowing a& potential ideas in the stugyle for berating a zone. ‘ith (2) ermed non-visibie "uok-outs" strategically positoned on each Comer of the perimeter of a neighborhood block (in buildings, etc) in life of slavery for one that is "Self-Possessed.” It teaches that, The renunciate wo delights in vigilance and shuns heedlessness [the act of not ‘king tized 19 things J advances lke a grass fire, consuming obstructions great, ‘ond smal" ‘ane that, “The renunciate who delights in vigilance and suns heedlessness is protected {from regression: such 9 one approaches liberation." (12) teaches that possessing self-restraint, practicing honesty and maintaining ‘iigerce in our everyday ives are actions of those who renounce a life of Subjection for one that becomes FREE. Anarchist Anthony Revson aptly inspires tie depraved of society with a well necessitated understanding with tne following intimate truth 41 “A lot of people have done bod things in this country, to themeeives ond to other people. But we can ell be redeemed. Everyone hasa natural alert that is needéd in the coming revolution. Our jobis to discover that tofent and how best todd it to the mix...t's about genuine redemption and obout true, reai geruine liberation.” -(Antheny Raysor, in an interview corducted by Abigail ard ceyote! ethan Eayson Every single human being. strangled in the binds of Subserviency must iberste ‘themselvesin the deliberate snapping away of ideological strongholds, to rebel against everything that that erslaves and rend aport every vestige of coercive authority as thoroughly as one possibly can is to aspire for freedom in the ‘most revolutionary of ways. Its to eel our very essence rejavenare and has in the Osirianglow that comes in the dawning of SelfEnlightenment and Self-Actuaization! \t'sin the revvifying renunciation of dogma and the fear of Unecceptance; Freador le the science of universal intimacy Its not a curciculum that we get credits for in college and neither iit religion. It's an intimate and unmediated connection with life! What was once derided as "reprehensible," the "scum of the Earth,” the “low-lfe’ "bottom of the barrel thug" becomes now the residue from which the "Most ‘evoking of revolutionaries emerge. As free as it isto feel unenvelopec from seclusion in the cremation of social contracts and to permeate the uriverse in sveryoueeahing ger famoke le waitin te wind, ‘Come sit down beside me’, 1 said to myself, ‘And although it doesn’t make sense, held my own hane 4s a small sign of trust ‘And together I sat on the fence, = Michse! Leunig, "Siting on the Fence” - FOOTNOTES "Existentialism and Human Emotions" (Philosophical library, New York, 1857), 15. (2) eanPaulsartes, (2) Murrey Bookchin, "Post-Scarcity Anarchism," 34, e6, (AK Press, Oakianc, CA, 2004), 10-11. (3) A. Schwaller de Lubicz, "The Temple of Man," trans, (nner Traditions International, Vermont, 1998), 23 (4) duoted by R.A de Lubicz, "The Temple of Man," trans. Inner Traditions International, Vermont, 1998), 34 (9) Murray Bookchin, "Post-Scarcity Anarchism,” 34. ed, (AK Press, Oakland, A, 2008), 15 (6) Maleoim x, "The Autobiography of Mulcolm 7,” (Ballantine 8ooks, New Yerk, 1964). (7) Murray Bookchin, "Post-Scarcity Anarchiem," 34. ed, {AK Press, Osklond, CA, 2004), 21. (8)Frantz Fanon, “The Wretched of the Earth,” |Grove Press, New York, 1963), 82, (9) Marshall. Rosenberg, “Nonviolent Communication: A Language of je," 24. ed, (PudsleDancer Press, 2003), 5 (10 SeeSun “zu, "The Art of War* (21) James Miller, “Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietische," (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2012), 172. ARTICLES OF RESISTANCE 70 ANARCHISM. and BLACK AUTONOMY By, Hybachi LeMar Tes bes ‘odie on your feet than to tive on your knees.” -Exmibano Zapata Asa persor of calor asa tave-1ot who grew up in poverty inthe slums of sverke, 1 consider Anarchism asthe highest degree of dignity the most «adsanced and undiluted expression of liberation No atherphilesophy teaches the inuman deing to refuse being dictated by any who would la claim of authority over ‘ones enistence: whether ethically-wise, socially-wise, or emotionally-wise 2 wal |i shoolin't be any surprise as to why so many of us and in particular, blacks ~ are reterring to ourse ves as anarchists once we discover for ourselves its true definition, |i shouldn't be as to any surprise as to why the government and those in positions ‘ofauthrity now finds growing number of us in the ghetto reaching a camnien, «down to earth, anieauthoritarian understanding, Slacks in this country have been resisting coercive authority since we were ‘kidnapped and drug by the chains of colonialism to this country against our will, sand nearly 100 million of our kidnapped A fikar ancestors drt make it alivel Government power has been lynching us for certuries & to this day continues 10 lynch us, Oscar Grant style, in the strets in our neighborhouds unt un every coast inthis county. They've enslaved us and continue to legally enslave us inthe pnsons for corporate Drofit-and cre protected to do so under the 13tk Amendment. 1 shouldn't be any surprise as to why so many of us blacks are turning into anarchists once we've discovered what its rue meaning is. tshowldr't he any surprise, at all! ‘Anarchism teaches respect for oneself and for one's community, and to have a ae g Se = 3 z RE E 3 3 ‘hint she Prisons: An Anarchist Insurectisnary Quarterly, (2009) **Terva ¥ Litertad: Lad & Liberty: ANARCHIST INFLUENCES 16 THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION reid + **Pieire-Joseph Proudhon <"*""Terra ¥ Libertad: Land & Liberty: ANARCHIST INFLUENCES IN THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION By, Hybachi LeMar 33 Juh,03,2014 “We will fght for housing and will seize housing owned by absentee ‘andiords and tura this housing into cooperatives for the people. ~ "Whot We Want- BAF Platform and Program” (4{a) Recnunr ones entet smelt Ebene {hlouRh sheer love and strugge- in my development nto the revolutionary lam today, {tmay inspire the Federation, Prisoners behind enemy lines, and at d in genera to know that on Thursday, June Sth, 2046, we, members of 3nc he Ica 8. Wells Cooltion Iberaied a two-story board-up bullding on Chicago's Southside Ourmisson isnot eny to excersise our human right to housing, ase Pregrant sompanera and! have been sleepingin a park the previous twe weeks, but 19 ao transform thi formerly abandoned buildinginto a base areo of resistonce! Resitance againet what? Resistance agninst unnecessary homelessness [which dsproportionately affects us people of calor’? ‘or every : homeless person, there are S amply, renovatzble houses inthe U.S! 40 estimated 1 milli are homeless throughout the country, with about $ millon renovatable builtings Znere are 400 abandened/undomiciled housesin our particular neighborhood {Fnelewood) alone - an al Black neighbortood in the heart of Chicagy’s ‘Quthulde where poverty, golice harassment, anda suidering staccato ofartilery has become an toursto-hour, genocical social ipedment {poroumatey three days following the libration, | walked the oerimeter of my Hock, clip-toardin hand, and began canvassing with hood questions nd hand made contact cards ready. Tiree simple, but relevant questions, not ony te see what the people in our community wants But also te measure the revolutionaty potential of an impoverished community so heavily armee, 0c you ele polce a racist in Englewood?” Teno of tn people ep Yes replied that they have or do (know someone who's been victinized by police|; and ay, What's your vision of what you'dlike to see here n Englewood asa resident ofthis community?” ‘The answers nged from Black urity tc field Housing for the neighborhood youth Anoverwhelning response was a visior of amore sanltary neighborhood; the issue ‘of sanitation being» mejor concern To.ater'to ths and the community's needs, we've opened the Englewood Liberation School, located on the corner of Garfield and Elizabeth Avenues, Chicago, 1 60636. ‘Sis JoN/na ard Bro. Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin have been resourcefu in providing BAF ‘membership apolications and revolutionary literature from Memphis. ‘arthony Rayson of South Chicago Anarchist Black Cross and Matt Muciowsk ofthe WW have also been resourceful in providing material aid - from zine tablesto chairs toposters, hammers and nails. Suppor from Brianna cf the Ida 8. Wells Coalition in Kansas ity hes been an enornoushelpin providirg a phone that we can conduct corference cals indirectly from our location. Get Involved! in the Chicago area, and interested in getting your hands in the mud of grassroots revolutionary activism with us, the Englewood Liberation School brings 2 motivating presente for community-consciousness raising and direct action, The Schoo! wil consist of Teach-Ins. ‘Knowledgeable about something that could benef others tc know anc wouldn't ‘mind teaching a few minutes or longer on it? Call and we can schedule a time and date for you to corducta Teach-Inat the School! ‘The School serves. a center for conducting neighborhood meetings. al andet us knom what community issue(s) youmay have and when you'c lke to se our School for community space. ‘The School servesas a base area of mcbillzztion for protests and demonstrations. ‘he Englewood Liberation School serves as a space for speaking engagements for arassroots community activists and workshop tabling. Those nc nthe Chitage area whomay be meresedinbuicing the Movement 70 across the sum bein sich berating way can les oe te sae on of tmplate fe gererating a evoktionay atmosphere Asis nespotng se immediate nen sn ang nace sion of he posrcorsaet ee oon aterecptive to revolitonaydoas, ae tboke andar aaron ee ene sbondone bung in he hettoyou we nite soascaes cheney Hybachi Lear ‘BAF Local Organizirg Committee Chicago Chapter (Thus is an erticle writen on Day-3 of our sit-in at Whittier Elementary School in a south Chicago ghetto 9) Asi write this, I can't help but periodically glance at framed pacture of enarchist/wobbly Lucy Parsons [presented as an award to last year’s demonstrators) steeped a fow feet off the ground, tewarés the fron: & center of the schoo!’s gymnasium floor. her eyes: sharp, keen, and loaded with love, sts with us as if watching-en, ard with an ireverent dgnity those of us resisting tonight con not ony feel, but intimately comprehend, as well Day 3 of Sit-In at a School With No Library Rouses Revolutionary Spirit of Solidarity 24/11 “Conditions make the man not the man the conditions. some day, when society has grown wise enough and just enough to make conditions pleasusable for her children, they will not be possessed of those low, brutal propensities which cause them to imbrue their hands ix their brother's blood, but those who say these things are sneered at as ‘cranks and dreamers* (Lucy Parsons, ‘Crime, Violence and Suicide") Uhr serni hares tiated an cma tae ed hostility onthe streets of south Chicago, 92 “he I sit-in was domonatatd Inst al (eptember 2010) Well overs hundred outraged & vigtant parents (mostly hispanic methers) ‘cecuried the Whittier Elementary School’ field hous, at 23rd and Damen Streets, ‘heir demands were simple, The elementary students deserve a library, and they emanded they hiaveone! ‘They «iso wanted w ccmmunity-space for loser community involvement with the “Pout (15) impassioned denonstrators (mostly won of cole slept on air mattroses on the floors mside the school; and, fer sround 43 days of uyielding "resistance, the demonstrators (nme importantly dhe yout “techuially” won & sere promised a library; but never received one. Nearly a year Later. community vutrage has intensiied. ‘Shetto birds (hieicopters) hover above the southside schoo, incensed with process tram below Hordes of police ie in opportunistic wait outside commun ty-erected barricades & ban tevolitionariesiconcsmed activists; members trom the ludustrial Workers of ‘ke Werld (WW 4 the Anarchist Black Cross collective are embraced arti the salidanty & lake vigilance during our nigh:-watch or this 3rd ay ofthe st ‘vadsiion to thex wnullilled promises; and, aleng with the new threat of slomolishing the school Cristo Rey ~ a private school located around the corner from ‘Slnttcr Elementary ~ wants to take over the premises to transform into a soccer ‘old for thete private initiative ‘Money and ‘property as istypical inal capitalist pursuits lies at the eoet of tas -ssult on the mid of our youth and comunity, ‘pun being being offered $365,000 to end the st-in,one concerned & ethically. Aven mother exclaimed. This ia war over terstory’ Why dont they give us the estroy our chilcren’s school with to hp in its development”? ‘money thei rying to The fact tha this conunusity lives in below porerty-line conditions that those (Irankly, non-whites) who live here grow up systematicelly profiled i the streets they left to struggle & strive in ~ gives the youth no alternative in choosing, library aisle to the alleys where conics are resolved with weapons rather than *words. 93 ‘Moreover, such assaults by the state are genocical in nature (genocidal, meaning the ‘extermination of an entire race) The US. prison industry is dlsproportionately populated by blacks & hispanics. ‘The number of Hacks in prison, for example, far outnumber that of the namber of imprisoned whites, alough blacks only make up 12.5 percent of the entire US population, ‘This takes on a deeper meaning when we consider that an astonishing, three-fourths (of the 2.3 nillon people imprisoned inthis country are functionally iliterater so wesee that what we're ngaged in ie not only a territorial tug of war over the Jan but also, one over the mind Keaclers, it we want the future t be truly ‘democratically ours & free fron the competition of cut-throat capitalists cur surest (and historically validated) means of fulfilling that want isto take matters into our own hands through “rect democracy." For books not burs! For a free society in the generations which will follow our own! In Solidarity withthe demonsteatorsat the Whittier sit-in = Hybachi Lemar ‘tt was ever thas. The dream of one century, ifit contained trath and justice, became ‘the actuality of the nex cennry* (lucy Parsons 1306) “They never wanted us to rake it. Everything that we posses, we had to fght lor & tae it (apec Shakur) RESISTANCE ALIVE IN LATHROP HOMES 4 Occupy the Projects! (Peter Kropotkin, “The Conquest of Bread’) “All power comes from the people, and all power must also be vested in inem. Anything else is theft” (Huey P. Newton, "Revolutionary Suicide’) “The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of history.” (Meo Ze Dong. April 24.1945) Trcne art MORE VACANT BUILDINGS AND LOTS THAN THERE ARE HOMELESS PEOPLE IN CHICAGO. The gop botwoon te haves & he Raveos coninues i win, and mere of vs (especial) poople ot Dlr ae beng contorted wth 3 dasion in cur margiakzed nage nods in the aly. In the country. In the colonized WORLD, AT LARGE - ‘whetner Io be run-over without a fight, or to Resist! On Thursday, Sepiember 6, at five o'clock in the evening, wnile (predomi- nantly middle-class, white college) students Occupied Chi’ downiown in the ‘inancial district, arally to save @ housing project was under way among us for tne most part) people of color. ‘The residents ofthe Lathrop Homes and street anivsts in Chicago's noth side marched toward the south side of the projects where we stood with in- tetlocked hends. forming a human chain. write police on foot-patrol spec {ated from various locations within the winding labyrinth ofthe towering ten- foment structures, 9S (Over 100 marchars - made up of mostly black & hispanic youth ane com- ‘munity organizers - mobilized what can be understood as a microcosm of the growing Resistance, en masse! “it's supposed tc be another one of those fierce Chicago winte's,” one spoaker blurted out frankly at the demonstration; and anyone familiar with, with the sub-zero temperatures in the city knows just how much a differ- \u steep in and not having one really ‘Since plans were announced in 2006 to tear down this 35-acre property for ‘the purpose of building a so-called "mixed income development” inits place, tenants and activists have boon pressing Mayor Daloy & the Chicago Heusing Authority (CHA) to cease from thei attempt at destroying {heir homes. The sound of “mixed income development, however, reeks vith gentrification, and is the thetoric before the destruction and mass cis- placement, of which other urban Housing Communitias such 2s the Hanover Acres Homes Housing Projecis in Allentown, PA, witnessed in 2008. | asked two demonstrators in their late teens, marching beside me if they were fom Lalliup. “Born and raised,” replied one proudly. “They Just put these ‘ences up throughout the hood two weeks ago. They're (CHA) tryin’ to sayit’s ‘cause of the bangin’; but none of us want these fences here and they do everything they can to hype everything up!" Tho conversations | freely engaged in with other residunts - young & old, alike - led me to the conclusion thal the rest af the community arent thrilled ‘with the pemed-up aimospere thal these fences are afforcing, as well. Preservation groups are also joining us inthe fight to save these three quarter ofa century ld landmark buildings. situated alongside the Chicago iver. “These historic, brick buildings are structurally sound, stl 75 years later. They can easily be reconfigured for larger housing units,” assured Jim P2- ters, president of Landmark, ilinois. “Structurally sound:” and yet. since £2007 these strong, red-brick tenement buildings which residents refer to. as “home has been under corporate attack, To say the homelessness here in the Chi' is bad, is an understatement, ‘As of this autumn, there are between 80,000 - 90,000 persons documented as homeless in Chicago; however, there are over 100.000 buildings cur- rertly unoccupied due to foreclosures, rent-evictions; and not to mention the plethora of vacant lots in the city. A city where 31 percent of the youth live in statistical poverty, and where 48.8 percent are made up of families! ‘The situation in the Latirop Homes gives a prme example of why the homeless crisis we face in ANYHOOD, USA is not only unnecessary, but a force of involuntary exclusicn worth rising against. % Only about 210 of the housing project's 924 units are being occupied. Twe- thirds of the Lathrop Homes are sittirg oocupiably vacant. National staststics are no less fulfiling. According to estimates, over the course of a year, tetween 2.6 million and 3.5 million people will either ive 1 the street or in an emergency shelter. In addition, each year, over 500,000 families, with an excess of 1.35 million chiidren experience home- ‘essnoss in tho United States, ‘rom this foundation the framework ot Resistance is beng built. The non- linear cyde of Revolution comes full circle. The liberatory Struggle becomes cemented with a solidarity no wrecking ball aimed at the buildings they force us fo abandon is abie to ever damok ich! Murray tookchin understood this when he wrote, how: "Before huge crowds surged around the Bastile ‘on July 14, 1789, in Paris, or confronted tsarist voops on the avenues of Petrograd on February 23 and 24, 1917, the people had already established vital political networks in the slums and working-class neighborhoods of both cities. (THE THIRD REVOLUTION: Popular Movements in the Revolutionary Ere: = Volume 1) The revoutionary bonds being forged from these crumbling, socal condi- tions are giving rise to a Resistance among the colonialy displaced against ‘not aniy Chicago Housing, but against State authority, tsolf An authority which has waged a relentless and apathetic war against the ‘hocd in its hustle to make a profit al our expense! ‘According to a recent report from DePaul University's Real Estaie Center, Cook County ‘will ace a shortfall of 78,000 units o!afferdatle housing by 2020." \Wiis the mass-mooizing of the poor and resistant standing in solidarity, however, as cemonstrated loday. our chances of building a revolutionary movement to successfully fight displacement can only grow harder and hardar to overcame United in Strug Mijn © midl-less who bull-horn for reform with warm homes lo goto, Continue occupying the sidewalks in cenier cy. As for us - who've already been tnrown out onto the streets (and those of us whe face being thrown ut due 10 oLF poverty )- et us embrace a more revolutionary resolve by ecupying erpty buildings so that we and ou increasingly nomeless youth wort freeze to death, or suffer rostbite inthe cl tis winter! mean come on, well hel oy "This is autonomy and every day that we confront injustice and Initiate solutions to our problems, collectively and individually, we are creating liberating spaces within our neighborhoods and ‘most importantly within our minds because we rid ourselves of the ‘mentality that some leader has to swoop into our communities and save us from injustice.” (Robert “Saleem” Halbrock, Black Autonomous Movements) in Soliderity with Rocidonte standing up in the Lathrope Homes, Hybachi LeMar of the Resistance This book is dedicated to the cutter and contemplator of suicide: the ‘ideological odd-bal: the oppressed prisoner siting on the ee of the bunk; all 1e wronged bejre heconing tocio politically aware (except the Sta) te ‘hose who've made heir life @ personal revolution int sel{and tothe have-nots 2f society wha, lke me have had so much ten from us tht we literally feel that we have nothing to lose. follow progress. When the prison, stake the voice of the protesting minority. “Government never leads: they. or scaffold can a0 longer silence progress moves on a step, but not until then.” ~ Lucy Parsons “Anarchists and Anarchism have historically been misrepresented to the world. The popular impreesion af an Anarchist ar an uncontrollably emotional, violent person who is only interested in destruction fer its own sake, and who is opposed to all forms of organization, still persists to this day...this false impression primarily is atill widely believed because people frem across the political spectrimm have consciously been promoting this lie for years. All who strive to oppress and exploit the working class, and grin power for themselves, whether they come from the right or left, will always be threatened by Anarchism...Anarchists want to get rid of the greatest perpetrator of violence throughout history: government!” ~ Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin South Chicago ABC Zine Distro <> P.O. Box 721 Homewood, IL 60430